RIVERSIDE: Inlandia Literary Laureate Gayle Brandeis announced

The Inlandia Institute Board of Directors has named Gayle Brandeis the Inlandia Literary Laureate for 2012 â" 2014.

The recognition will be officially announced at the annual TomÃ¡s Rivera Conference and 40th Anniversary Celebration of Chicano Student Programs at UC Riverside from 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday at UCRâs Highlander Union Building, Room 302. The celebration will include an homage to TomÃ¡s Rivera, the Laureate award presentation, and âSiete Noches/Seven Nights: An Evening with Author Sandra Cisneros,â with a reading, panel discussion, book signing and light reception.

Brandeis, a Riverside resident, is the author of âFruitflesh: Seeds of Inspiration for Women Who Writeâ (HarperOne); âDictionary Poemsâ (Pudding House Publications); the novels âThe Book of Dead Birdsâ (HarperCollins), which won Barbara Kingsolver's Bellwether Prize for Fiction in Support of a Literature of Social Change, âSelf Storageâ (Ballantine), and âDelta Girlsâ (Ballantine), as well as her first novel for young readers, âMy Life with the Lincolnsâ (Henry Holt), which just received the Silver Nautilus Book Award for Middle Grade/Teen Fiction.

.

According to Larry Burns, President of the Inlandia Institute, âThe laureate award and the exciting creative literary projects and programs undertaken during each laureateâs term engage the community and bring focus to the richness of the literary enterprise that exists in this region.â

Brandeis says she is particularly interested in reaching those who seldom engage in creative activities, and those who feel they have no story to tell.

âEveryone has a story to tell,â she said. âOur personal stories have value. It is a matter of finding a way of expressing them. I love opening the creative writing process up to others.â

During her two-year term, Brandeis plans to focus on the theme of INnerLANDIA , exploring self and place, in the first year, and OutLANDIA, releasing the imagination, in the second year. Gayle will make two author presentations, lead an intensive daylong, writing workshop for adults and one for teens, and hold a creative literacy assembly in a school, among other activities. Visit both the Inlandia Instituteâs website at InlandiaInstitute.org and their Facebook page for current Inlandia Literary Event listings.

Susan Straight, National Book Award finalist and ardent library supporter, will conclude her term as the first Inlandia Literary Laureate at the very special âBook Swap Night and Take One Candle Light a Roomâ event from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. May 24, in the auditorium of the Downtown Riverside Public Library.

For more information about the Tomas Rivera Conference and Chicano Studies Anniversary event call 951-827-3821.

Join the conversation

We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful
conversations about issues in our community. Although we do not pre-screen comments,
we reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful,
threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent
or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law,
regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.